100: Steel Torrent (2)

When the dust and flames of the explosion finally began to dissipate, the street that had just been as clamorous as hell was now transformed into a charred, deathly silent ruin. Over a thousand zombies had been completely carbonized, twisted into various bizarre postures, and the stench of scorched flesh and cracked, burning bones permeated the air. Only a few scattered, burning corpses remained, crackling softly like guttering candles and twitching neurotically. The tank cluster slowly drove through this burning Shura Field, their treads kicking up black ash that drifted down like flakes of deathly snow.

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed an ancient clock tower an ominous dark red. The massive pendulum had long since stopped, frozen in the dust of time. Several pitch-black crows perched on the rust-mottled iron frame, letting out hoarse, unpleasant cries as if singing an elegy for this dead land.

Zhang Long stood by the open cabin door of the hind, the powerful airflow whipping against the collar of his combat uniform with a snapping sound. He took a deep breath, and the intense, pungent stench—a mixture of rotting corpses, gunpowder sulfur, and the acrid, metallic smell produced by metal corroding under high heat and acid—rushed into his nostrils. This was the most familiar and nauseating scent of the apocalypse.

"All units, attention!" Zhang Long's voice carried clearly to every corner of the 1st Battalion through the encrypted communicator. The Evolver energy within him surged slightly, and his invisible aura seemed to become a bit more solid, forcibly suppressing the anxious moods of every soldier and making their thoughts exceptionally clear and calm. "We are 3.2 kilometers from the east gate of Hongshan University!" He paused, his gaze scanning like a hawk the steel torrent advancing below and the precarious buildings looming like the fangs of giant beasts on either side.

"Rhino Squad in front, maintain a wedge assault formation! Grizzly Squad, deploy on the flanks and provide full cover, focusing on clearing threats within the buildings! armored personnel carriers, stay close to the Rhino Squad and maintain a fifty-meter safety interval! hind Squad, take to the air for surveillance at an altitude of three hundred! Focus on scanning the upper-floor windows of buildings on both sides and all flanking alleys! Report any high-tier targets immediately and prioritize their elimination!"

"rhino copies!"

"Grizzly understands!"

"Light Armored Unit copies!"

"hind Squad maintaining watch! Over!"

The communicator erupted with a uniform and powerful chorus of responses, like steel hammers striking an anvil, carrying a sense of unstoppable determination.

With the order given, the steel torrent accelerated once more. The steel spearhead, composed of five heavy rhino tanks, was the first to start. The roar of their engines converged into a low growl like that of an ancient behemoth, making the shattered window glass on both sides of the street rattle. The thick 125mm main guns were like knights' lances, raised slightly, their cold barrels reflecting a dark metallic luster under the embers of the setting sun. The treads ruthlessly crushed the asphalt road covered in spiderweb-like cracks, grinding the scattered, rust-stained car wreckage and bleached white bones into powder with a dull, continuous 'crunching and grinding' sound. This sound was like the drumbeat of death, striking the hearts of every survivor and every zombie.

"Three hundred meters ahead! Street intersection! Large-scale zombie cluster gathered! Extremely high density!" Before Zhou Rui, the commander of the lead tank, Rhino 001, could finish his shout, the cannon had already spat out scorching flames!

"Boom—!"

The 125mm high-explosive shell, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, smashed precisely into the center of the zombie cluster. A dark red fireball suddenly expanded, and the violent shockwave swept through like the Grim Reaper's scythe, instantly tearing apart and swallowing hundreds of huddling zombies! Shattered bones, rotten flesh, and severed limbs splattered around like black rain, 'pitter-pattering' against the thick armor of the following tanks and leaving mottled stains. The bodies of zombies blown away by the edge of the shockwave slammed hard against the outer walls of the buildings on both sides like broken dolls, leaving behind pools of viscous, disgusting stains.

"Maintain suppressive fire! Do not give them a chance to gather!" Zhang Long's voice was as cold as ice.

The Rhino Squad demonstrated its powerful firepower projection capability. The tanks were like mobile steel fortresses, their main guns thundering rhythmically. Every three seconds or so, a lethal shell whistled out, smashing hard into the Zombie Tide. Explosions occurred one after another in a continuous chain. The zombie cluster on the street was repeatedly and violently torn open with massive gaps. Those staggering ordinary zombies were as fragile as paper in the face of the 125mm high-explosive shells, and the high-speed fragments flying in all directions easily tore them to pieces. However, the sheer number of the Zombie Tide was too great! The following zombies stepped over the remains and foul blood of their predecessors, surging forward layer upon layer like fearless ocean waves. Some zombies were even pushed by their more frantic kin, overflowing the smoking craters left by the shells like an uncontrolled flood!

"Grizzly Squad! Flank through the left! Clear the side buildings! Blast those rats hiding inside out for me!" Zhang Long adjusted the deployment decisively.

Six relatively light grizzly tanks with faster-firing main guns immediately split from the main column, pouncing like nimble hounds toward the residential buildings on the left. Their 85mm main guns spat fire at a faster tempo.

"Dong dong dong! Dong dong dong!"

Shells were fired into those dark, cavernous windows like a barrage. The window glass of the buildings on both sides was shattered one after another. Every shell that entered a room triggered a small-scale explosion, with flames and thick smoke billowing from the windows, accompanied by muffled blasts and the short screeches of zombies before they died. The zombies hiding within were ruthlessly torn apart by the shockwaves and fragments. The turret of a tank numbered 'Grizzly 07' suddenly swung to the right, its barrel almost leaving an afterimage.

"Dong!"

An 85mm shell precisely hit an Agile zombie that was frantically pouncing from a third-floor window. While still in mid-air, the zombie was blown apart by the shell, turning into a cloud of foul blood and fragments that scattered down.

The armored personnel carriers followed closely behind the Grizzly Squad. On the remote weapon stations atop the vehicles, the 20mm autocannons began to roar fiercely.

"Da da da da da—!"

Dense tracer rounds carved striking crimson lines of fire in the dim light, like countless flexible and lethal poisonous whips, lashing out at the scattered zombies that had managed to escape from building crevices, collapsed walls, and narrow alleys. The thick rear hatches slid open with a 'clack,' and fully armed, sharp-eyed infantrymen filed out swiftly like tigers released from a cage. They used the armored vehicles as mobile cover, their assault rifles emitting crisp bursts of fire.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Precise bullets blew apart the heads of zombies attempting to flank them. A corporal had just used his sharp bayonet to flip over a zombie that pounced before him when he glimpsed another rushing from the shadows at his side. Just as he was about to turn, the 20mm cannon on the armored vehicle behind him roared and swept across, the dense barrage instantly turning the ambusher into a sieve, splashing foul blood over half the soldier's body. He gave a thumbs-up to the gunner in the vehicle, his gaze unwavering.

"Command center! East building! Tenth-floor window! Found a First-Tier Acid Throat! Repeat, found an Acid Throat! It's charging up!" The warning from a hind Squad pilot suddenly rang out in the communication channel, carrying a hint of urgency.

Zhang Long's heart tightened, and he instantly looked up. His sharp gaze pierced through the cabin glass, precisely locking onto the tenth floor of an office building to his front right. At the edge of a broken window, a zombie with a distorted body and an abnormally thick, swollen neck was leaning out halfway. It opened its massive maw filled with fangs, and the viscous yellow-green liquid in its throat surged violently, flashing with a dangerous corrosive light!

"hind! Concentrate fire! Clear it immediately!" Zhang Long's command was decisive and without hesitation.

Without needing specific instructions, the three hind attack helicopters circling on high alert reacted simultaneously like birds of prey discovering their quarry! They pushed their sticks forward, their fuselages diving at an extremely steep angle, and the 30mm autocannons beneath their noses instantly erupted with a deafening roar!

"Dong dong dong dong dong—!"

Dense shells poured down like water, forming three lethal metal torrents that precisely covered the window and its surrounding area! The hard concrete outer wall was shattered and peeled away like tofu. The Acid Throat zombie didn't even have time to spit its lethal acid before its entire upper body was riddled with holes and completely disintegrated in the violent metal storm! The yellow-green, foul-smelling corrosive liquid, mixed with shattered meat and organs, poured down from the tenth floor like a waterfall, corroding large patches of 'sizzling' charred marks on the grayish-white wall and sending up acrid white smoke.

"Well done!" Zhang Long couldn't help but praise, the corners of his tight mouth curling up slightly. However, before this smile of approval could fully bloom, a more powerful, colder, and more violent energy fluctuation reached his keen Evolver senses from the end of the street ahead, like several red lights lighting up in the dark! First-Tier Zombies! More than one!

As if to confirm his perception, the glass curtain wall of a large supermarket at the corner of the street ahead shattered! Accompanied by a deafening roar full of tyrannical aura, a Fatty Zombie several times the size of an ordinary zombie crashed through the twisted metal frame and charged out! Its skin was a rock-like grayish-black, covered in deep wrinkles and cracks. Its massive belly was like a skin bag filled with foul water, the fat vibrating violently and making a muffled 'thudding' sound as it ran, yet its speed was surprisingly fast! Dozens of 5.8mm bullets fired from the infantrymen's rifles hit it like mud sinking into the sea, only managing to embed themselves in the thick hide without causing any real damage.

"Grizzly 03! Target the Fatty Zombie directly ahead! Armor-piercing shell! Take it out!" Zhang Long's voice was devoid of fluctuation.

The turret of a grizzly tank on the flank of the formation rotated rapidly, its 85mm barrel pointing steadily at the oncoming behemoth.

"Dong!"

A tungsten-core armor-piercing shell left the barrel, precisely hitting the Fatty Zombie's mountain-like chest! The shell, carrying immense kinetic energy, bored into the thick layer of fat and exploded violently inside!

"Puchi—!"

A large cloud of dark green, glue-like blood mist sprayed from the wound. The massive body of the giant Fatty Zombie jerked to a halt, letting out a painful roar. A shocking blood hole appeared in its chest, and its running speed slowed significantly, but its small eyes, full of tyranny, stared fixedly at the tank as it continued to stagger forward!

"Switch to high-explosive shells! Aim for the head!" the commander of Grizzly 03 shouted, the veins on his forehead bulging.

The loader's movements were as fast as lightning.

"Dong!"

The second shell, with a sharp whistle, slammed directly into the Fatty Zombie's disproportionately large head!

"Boom!"

The violent explosion of the high-explosive shell occurred instantly! Half of the Fatty Zombie's head was blown away like a rotten watermelon, and filth mixed with brain matter and bone fragments splattered everywhere. Its massive body, as if its bones had been removed, shook violently a few times before crashing to the ground. Its heavy frame directly flattened the wreckage of an abandoned car by the roadside like a pancake!

However, the crisis was not over! Almost at the same moment the giant Fatty Zombie fell, over a dozen swift black shadows suddenly bolted from the dark alleys on both sides like ghosts! They were Agiles! Their limb joints were bent at inhuman angles, and their bodies were almost flush with the ground as they ran, their speed so fast they left afterimages on the retina! Their sharp claws, glinting with a faint blue light and clearly poisonous, lunged like the hooks of the Grim Reaper at the infantry units relying on the armored vehicles for combat.

"Flank attack! It's the Agiles! Protect the infantry!" Several urgent warnings instantly rang out in the communication channel.